Available Issues of The Young & The Perfectionistic:

• Issue 1 (July 12th, 2022): Blog Introduction
  • Welcome to “The Young & The Perfectionistic” blog! If you or someone you know feels constant pressure to be perfect, are afraid of making mistakes, terrified of failure, constantly doubts decisions, needs to check or redo work, or can’t enjoy success because it often feels like even more pressure to do better next time, then you are in the right place.
  • Read the full introduction here
• Issue 2 (July 19th, 2022): How do perfectionistic thoughts contribute to mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic among young adults?
  • The Bottom Line:
    • Thoughts about the need to be perfect tended to decrease among young adults during the early stages of the pandemic.
    • Young adults who more frequently thought about needing to be perfect experienced more depressive and anxiety symptoms both before and during the pandemic compared to those who had perfectionistic thoughts less frequently.
    • Young adults who more frequently thought about needing to be perfect experienced a greater increase in anxiety symptoms from pre-pandemic to during the pandemic.
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 3 (July 26th, 2022): Can perfectionism actually affect my health?
  • The Bottom Line:
    • Needing to be perfect and believing others expect you to be perfect is linked with poorer physical health.
    • People who think a lot about their need to be perfect and are stressed show evidence of immune system dysregulation.
    • Perfectionism may undermine immune system functioning, which could leave people at a higher risk for poorer physical health.
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 4 (August 2nd, 2022): What role did perfectionism play in changes to health habits during the pandemic? Part one – Survey says…
  • The Bottom Line:
    • In the early stages of the pandemic, teenagers were generally making time to focus on their healthy habits, including daily exercise, healthy eating, relaxation, and adequate sleep.
    • However, teenagers who put pressure on themselves to be perfect and also felt that other people expect them to be perfect reported engaging in fewer healthy habits during the pandemic.
    • This suggests that being an “extreme” perfectionist may be a risk factor for poorer health-related behaviours, particularly in the context of the pandemic.
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 5 (August 9th, 2022): What role did perfectionism play in changes to healthy habits during the pandemic? Part two – Interviews
  • The Bottom Line:
    • Interviews with teen perfectionists suggested that the first lockdown offered them a break from their usual schedules and responsibilities, allowing them more time to focus on their healthy habits.
    • However, teenagers who were high in the internal need to be perfect, or who tended to have impossibly high expectations for themselves, seemed to have more trouble taking advantage of this break. They seemed to respond negatively to the shifts in their sleep schedules and had to remind themselves to relax, often trying to choose the most productive relaxation activities.
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 6 (August 23rd, 2022): How is perfectionism related to anxiety across time in first-generation secondary students?
  • The Bottom Line:
    • Given that so many teenagers experience both perfectionistic tendencies and anxiety at the same time, it is hard to know whether it is feelings of perfectionism that trigger anxiety, if anxiety leads to increases in perfectionism, or if they feed into each other in a vicious cycle.
    • In this issue, we will discuss some recent research (see Spadafora et al., 2022) that looked at how perfectionism and anxiety are related to each other over time among high school students whose parents never finished college or university (i.e., first-generation students).
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 7 (January 26th, 2023): How are teen perfectionists faring during the COVID-19 pandemic?
  • The Bottom Line:
    • We know that perfectionism is on the rise among young people, which is particularly concerning given that we know perfectionism is linked to a range of problems, including feeling disconnected from others, poorer mental and physical health, and higher levels of stress.
    • However, there is still a lot that we do not know about perfectionism in young people. For example, is perfectionism changeable over time and how has it affected teens’ mental health and stress levels during the unprecedented and difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic?
    • In this issue, we will specifically explore findings from a recent study (Molnar et al., 2023) that examined how the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted teen perfectionism and how perfectionism may have contributed to anxiety, depressive symptoms, and stress among teenagers during the pandemic.
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 8 (February 11th, 2024): Only the highest of standards will do – Teen perfectionism, Part I
  • The Bottom Line:
    • It is not uncommon for teens to be under tremendous pressure. However, not all teens are perfectionists! So what does perfectionism even look like in teens? In this series of posts, we will explore this very question.
    • Specifically, we will discuss findings from a recent study (Molnar et al., 2023) that examined the key components of perfectionism in teens. In this study, 46 teenagers who considered themselves to be perfectionists were interviewed so that they could tell us about their experiences of perfectionism. The teen perfectionists in this study were incredibly insightful and provided rich descriptions of what perfectionism means to them and how it looks in their daily lives.
    • In this first issue, we will take a look at the first characteristic of perfectionism that the teens identified: high standards!
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 9 (February 20th, 2024): Perfectionism as compulsion & chronic dissatisfaction – Teen perfectionism, Part II
  • The Bottom Line:
    • In this issue, we will continue our series on teen perfectionism by highlighting two more key components of perfectionism identified by the perfectionistic teens we interviewed (see Molnar et al., 2023).
    • First, we talk about how perfectionism is experienced by many teens as a demand or a compulsion.
    • Second, we talk about how young perfectionists tend to be chronically dissatisfied despite their unyielding efforts towards meeting their goals.
    • The bottom line is that teen perfectionists are young people who are compelled to be absolutely flawless and tend to be unimpressed, even when they accomplish what others consider to be outstanding achievements!
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 10 (February 27th, 2024): Social comparison and competitiveness – Teen perfectionism, Part III
  • The Bottom Line:
    • In Part III of our teen perfectionism series, we put the spotlight on social comparison and competitiveness.
    • During their interviews with us, teen perfectionists discussed how they were often trapped in an incessant cycle of comparing themselves to others; essentially using others as mirrors to assess their behaviours, performance, and in many cases their worth.
    • Their tendencies to compare themselves to others often led to a form of hypercompetitiveness that at time interfered with their relationships, especially with their peers.
    • The bottom line is that teen perfectionists often describe themselves as being highly competitive people who struggle to understand their own abilities, accomplishments, and worth without using others as a benchmark to evaluate themselves.
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 11 (March 18th, 2024): Where does all of this pressure come from anyways? Teen perfectionism, Part IV
  • The Bottom Line:
    • In our discussions with teen perfectionists, they told us that the pressure to be perfect comes from several sources, including parents, teachers, coaches, peers, and even themselves.
    • Whereas some adolescents are pretty clear that their perfectionistic tendencies are either driven by purely internal or purely external sources, others cannot single out any one factor and instead inform us that they experience both internal and external pressures to be perfect.
    • Some teens also point to external situational pressures, such as their school environment, social in general, and their previous successes as fueling their perfectionism.
    • The bottom line is that when someone asks you what is spurring on teen perfectionism, the best answer is… “Well it depends!’ Perfectionism is not a one size fits all for teens and the sources of adolescent perfectionism are as varied as they are.
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 12 (October 17th, 2024): Perfectly insecure? Teen perfectionism, Part V
  • The Bottom Line:
    • When you think of a teen perfectionist, what comes to mind? Most people describe a confident and capable teenager who is in control and has their life together.
    • Yet, our discussions with teen perfectionists reveal quite a different reality where they are struggling with a deep-seated sense of insecurity that slowly chips away at their well-being.
    • This insecurity shows up in different ways, such as:
      • Constantly checking for mistakes or flaws that may potentially embarrass them
      • Redoing their work to an excessive degree, sometimes missing key deadlines and accepting late penalties rather than submitting work that they feel is not their best
      • A relentless need to stay busy, believing that constant productivity is essential to prove their worth
    • Often, the teens we spoke to tied these behaviours to a fear of being judged negatively by others.
    • The bottom line is that we shouldn’t take for granted that teens ‘have it all’, without acknowledging the multitude of insecurities and pressures they bear on a daily basis.
  • Read the full issue here
• Issue 13 (November 14th, 2024): Perfection as armor – Teen perfectionism, Part VI
  • The Bottom Line:
    • Just as soldiers use armor to shield themselves from external threats, some teen perfectionists word hard to cuarte a perfect persona to defend themselves against potential criticism, rejection, or failure
    • However, although the mask of perfection is designed to provide protection, it often backfires and can lead to stress, anxiety, and loneliness.
  • Read the full issue here